Rackmount computer chassis

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i think you've really got to figure out what you are going to need in the case and then it doesnt matter what you spend on it.
thats basically what i did. of course, i bought my 4U under the impression it was a 19" when it was actually a 21.5" when i received it because the guy LIED!!!!!!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
but it all turned out well for me anyway.
 
ebeam said:
I've been looking at rackmount cases a little too. My favorite at the moment is the Maxtop IPC-4032AL cause its silver....ooooh. I also like the Evercase ECR9400B. The Maxtop is $95 with no PSU and the Evercase is $120 with a 300W PSU. Those prices are from www.newegg.com - they have nice pictures too. The thing that sucks is all these cheaper rackmount cases only have 3 5.25" bays which means either CDRW/CDROM/HD or CDRW/HD/HD for me. I guess if you got a big enough hard drive it wouldn't matter, but 4 spaces would be nice.
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The one from aberdeeninc has 3-5.25 on the front and a 3.5 (for floppy) on the front and 2 hidden 3.5s thats a lot of hard drives.

larry
 
spacedye said:
i think you've really got to figure out what you are going to need in the case and then it doesnt matter what you spend on it.
thats basically what i did. of course, i bought my 4U under the impression it was a 19" when it was actually a 21.5" when i received it because the guy LIED!!!!!!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
but it all turned out well for me anyway.
Click to expand...

That's the only downfall with the aberdeen case. I was all planned to put it in my portable SKB case, have a portable recording studio and all, but didn't even think to check depth, DUH....

But I bought this rolling rack and had it mounted on there for a while. Not sure what I'm doing now, maybe build my own for the studio with wheels so I can make it portable.

larry
 
gatorhaus said:
The one from aberdeeninc has 3-5.25 on the front and a 3.5 (for floppy) on the front and 2 hidden 3.5s thats a lot of hard drives.

larry
Click to expand...

Thats the same as the ones I mentioned I think. Last time I checked you can't put a hard drive in a 3.5" so you have 3 spaces for CD drives and hard drives.
 
ebeam,

3.5" is the size of hard drives. You have to get an adapter to put them in a 5.25" drive.

larry
 
Freestyle said:
I am in the process of building my own computer for digital recording. Does anyone have any opinions about rack mounted cases for the CPU rather than a tower?
Click to expand...


A long overdue answer from somebody who built and sold rack-mounted PC's ten years ago. :cool: Most of this has probably already been mentioned. :)

Rackmounted chassis are cool, of you can afford them, because they usually are much more expensive than the ordinary stuff.

They are also typically created to sit in a rack in a server room, and hence makes loads of noise. Make sure you get one that has NO POWER SUPPLY and no other fans at all, and accepts standard ATX power supplies, so you can fit it with a silent one.
 
gatorhaus said:
ebeam,

3.5" is the size of hard drives. You have to get an adapter to put them in a 5.25" drive.

larry
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, silly me. I'm just so used to seeing them mounted like that.....
 
I found a 4U chassis off ebay for $40. It fits my SKB rotorack exactly. Brand new, but the power supply is for AT mbs, so I had to transplant an ATX ps from an old tower. Works well.
 
I am in the process of converting my mid-tower case to be rackmountable. Just waiting for the rackmount "ears". It's not designed that way but a regular stand-up 17" tall mid tower case and some creative welding by a buddy for a six pack got the job done for me. All I need now is a rack case to stick it in and I think the case looks kewler sitting horizontal anyways.

You CAN take an otherwise non-rackmoutable case and retrofit it to fit in the rack if it's less than 19" and you have access to a machine shop. I got a quote for the rack ears to be done and the shop here said they could do it for about $25.00 provided I give them exact measurements and specs of the rack ears but that was too much for me so I called my bassist who's conveniently a master welder. Horizontal orientation of the components is not really an issue but the only consideration is the CD-R drive and if you have the vertical loading tabs in the tray.
 
I just bought one from the same eBay seller:

4U Rackmount Case

I have plenty of ATX power supplies, so that won't be a problem. I hope this thing is relatively sturdy and well built. Hard to tell from the photos.

It is going to be my mobile recording rig. I have two Aardvark Q10 to rack mount along with the computer.
 
They are also typically created to sit in a rack in a server room, and hence makes loads of noise. Make sure you get one that has NO POWER SUPPLY and no other fans at all, and accepts standard ATX power supplies, so you can fit it with a silent one.
Click to expand...

That's key..... NOISE is the biggest problem w/ these cases.... MAKE SURE you have a QUIET fan/power supply...

That said, I may get one soon... :D
 
bgavin said:
I just bought one from the same eBay seller:

4U Rackmount Case

I have plenty of ATX power supplies, so that won't be a problem. I hope this thing is relatively sturdy and well built. Hard to tell from the photos.

It is going to be my mobile recording rig. I have two Aardvark Q10 to rack mount along with the computer.
Click to expand...

Yes it is very sturdy and comes with a baggie full of screws and other hardware. Mine came with three case fans but no power supply. With a Fortron Aurora adjustable power supply, it can be completely silent for short durations (like during takes) by turning off the fan, and very quiet for extended periods at low RPM's.
 
Mine just arrived... very well packaged. Heavy, too. Everything considered, I did much better on this eBay purchase, than buying a complete rack from Newegg.

I've got client work on the bench right now, so the rack case will have to wait until the weekend.
 
My .02 on the rack....I think they are easier to iso than a tower since you are in fact securing them to some posts.
If you are buiding an iso box, then you already have a frame to work from as well as the positioning once you get your rack hammered together.

I built a pretty quiet rack
Startech 480W PS/4U cases. 120mm fans at half speed....monsterous heatsinks on the cpus. Run those fans at half speed as well. No funny stuff on the video card.....those guys can howl.

If you wanna get serious with it...Thermaltake just put out a fanless 350W PS. Zalmans got a passive water cooler that Ive never used but supposedly works well. Noisemagic has 'shockmounts' to decouple youre hdds....or depending on your drive cages, just string up elastic. Seagate Barracudas are the quietest drives Ive run across.
 
Antec mace the best rackmount cases I've seen. Yes they are rather deep, in the right setup this can't be seen. The antec fans are very noisy. I replaced all the case fans with acoustifan. I use a Zalman on the CPU
 
I used to be an Intel Head. I have been using the AMD Athalon in my studio heads up with an Intel P4. No diff. AMD is priced so low I can build 2 computers for the price of 1 Intel.

I like the AMD and spec them out on all new computers for the studio.
 
Any suggestions for a SHALLOW rack mount case? I need it to fit in my gator case, and 20+ inches is too deep.
 
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